A.N.: This is going to be the final chapter of this fic as my muse has apparently left the building. I did my best and hope this doesn't disappoint. Thank you so much for taking this journey with me and sharing all your fun thoughts and reactions along the way. I had a great time sharing this with y'all.

Disclaimer: They aren't mine and this isn't giving me any money. I'm just having fun.

Everyone stood with their bags piled around them in the main clearing they'd been meeting in every morning. "Okay, kids, the jet will be here in about fifteen minutes. When it gets here load up and we'll get back to the mansion. Brotherhood kids, you're comin' with us."

"Yeah, I heard from Mystique and Mags told Pietro so we're cool with that," Lance let Logan know with no fuss.

Logan nodded once before letting them know they should hike to the huge clearing up the mountain a ways. While they started up the path he went to shake hands with the head counselor from the camp and followed behind the group. Other than the usual taunts and teen griping and teasing everything seemed fine. It wasn't long before the jet arrived and they were flying back to the familiar environs of the Institute.

When they made their way to the large library, not only were Storm and the Professor there to greet them, but both Mystique and Magneto were flanking him. The entire group came to an abrupt halt. "Yo! Mystique, what are you doing here? And Buc- I mean Magneto, you hate Professor X!" Fred started to laugh at Todd's slip-up with Magneto's name, but a quick jab from Lance's elbow kept him quiet.

Charles' only indication of how humorous he found Todd's candid reaction was the slight upward quirk of his lips. "Ahem, yes Todd… as all of you see, we have been quite busy in your absence. The three of us have news for you all. Perhaps, however, it would be best to allow my companions to explain," he indicated both Erik and Raven.

Rogue, who'd been standing towards the rear of the group, saw the Acolytes clustered off to the side of the room before her friends caught sight of them. John smirked at her and waved his fingers at her in greeting which had her fighting down the urge to smile broadly. Her lips did curve up the slightest bit as she saw Victor and Piotr both of whom inclined their heads at her. Remy mouthed the words, "Good to see you, chérie." He winked at her, bringing a deep rosy blush to her cheeks. She abruptly turned away from them to give the three leaders her attention.

Erik was speaking. "As you can see, things have changed… we believe these changes are for the better and will benefit all mutants. Our three groups will be working together from this point on. While we may not all believe completely the same things, that is true in any group and we trust that our skills and talents will blend well together to create a stronger, more influential force for the defense of all mutants as well as strengthening mutant/human relations. I have come to see that prejudice in all its forms is an ugly thing that will never bring positive results for any of those involved."

He then nodded to Mystique who added, "We will not force any of you to join us in banding together to create a unified front, however each of us urges you to seriously consider things before you choose to leave. The Brotherhood house will remain available for any who choose to reside there, but our hope is that most will choose to move into this mansion so that all are available on a moment's notice as well as enjoying the protection that the Institute's superior security system offers."

Charles now re-entered the discussion. "This is, we are aware, an unexpected development for most of you and a very big decision. Please, take your time in choosing your path and until that choice is made, know that our doors are open to all of you. If you have any questions I recommend you find one of the three of us or any of the instructors here." Recognizing his statement for the dismissal it was, they began trickling from the room. Remy had departed immediately after Rogue while the rest of the Acolytes waited until the younger mutants had cleared the room already.

Catching up with Rogue, Remy said nothing but walked alongside her with his hand on her lower back. She walked outside, not slowing her pace until they reached the gazebo overlooking the cliffs, the sound of the surf crashing against the rocks below drifting up in a calming soundtrack. Once they'd settled he asked her, "What ya' t'inkin', chère?"

She shrugged. "Ah guess Ah'm mainly feeling a little bit stupid. Looking back there were a lot of clues that this was coming, but Ah missed 'em somehow." She gazed over the railing at the horizon. "It doesn't really matter what Ah think since it's not mah call, right?" She looked over her shoulder at the man listening so attentively, smirking at him while admitting, "Ah'm fahne with y'all being here. It could even be fun."

He began to say something flirtatious when she spoke again. "Ah mean, John's hysterical!" Remy's smile dropped from his face instantly as he digested what she'd said. She turned to face him fully, all fake wide-eyed innocence. "Is something wrong, Remy?"

His eyes narrowed dangerously. They were interrupted before too long by the arrival of Kurt, Kitty, and Tabby who were looking for Rogue in hopes of discussing the latest mansion drama. Seeing Rogue not only sitting with one of Magneto's Acolytes, not just with the particular baddie who'd almost blown her up and had kidnapped her, but she was sitting there looking totally relaxed and even, dare they say it, content. Kurt gaped at his sister. Kitty, while surprised, was less stunned than Kurt since she happened to know a little more about their history and the fact that Rogue kept a certain item hidden away in their room. Tabby simply said, "All right Rogue! You go girl. He's," she paused to give him a good going over with her very detail-oriented eyes, "positively scrumptious!" At her leering remark, Remy smirked her way, but stayed firmly entrenched with Rogue, even moving his arm from the back of the bench seat to her shoulders.

Rogue knew she should smack him for that one, and she would… once Tabby left. It might be petty, it may be a con, but it was fun. "Hey, what's up?"

"I think ve should be asking you zat, schwester."

"Ah just came out ta think things through, ya know? An' then Remy happened to wander out here, too." She couldn't help teasing her brother a little more. He just made it so easy. "Ah mean, we're teammates now an' ya' know how Scott's always tellin' us how important it is ta really know your team an' all that."

Kurt's unique sulfuric cloud announced his almost instantaneous arrival about a foot away from the 'couple' in the gazebo. Kurt tried to reach for Rogue's arm only to have her jerk away from him. "Ah know ya' aren't seriously tryin' ta tell me who ta hang out with, Kurt," she said more as a warning than anything else. A little teasing and joking around was fine, but no one told her who to be friends (or whatever we are) with.

Remy and Kitty both felt it was time to intervene while Tabby stood back enjoying the show. "Tenez dessus, chéri. (Hold on, darling.) Your petit frère d'elfe (little elf brother) is just tryin' ta look out for you. Nightcrawler," he now addressed Kurt directly, "you are not da firs' one ta question my motives. Mr. Wolverine already had your professor try ta read my mind."

"What do you mean 'try'?" Kitty wanted to know.

"It would seem dat part of my mutation involves an innate psychic block makin' it almos' impossible to read my mind. We found out if I focus on lettin' 'im in, he can see a little." He looked right at Kurt to finish. "What he found dere is what made bot' him an' de Wolverine okay wit' lettin' Remy in here."

Kurt still didn't look convinced, but he did stop trying to force Rogue out of there. Kitty sat down across from the pair and asked, "So, like, what do you think of all this?" Her question was a general one not directed at any one person.

"We were just talking about that," Rogue said. "Ah was actually about ta ask Remy what he thought o' the whole thing." She looked to him expectantly. His glance shot around the small group as he weighed how candid he should be with all of them. Were it still just the two of them he'd be totally open, but he wasn't sure how much to share with Kurt and Tabitha. Kitty he pretty much trusted, but he didn't know enough of these other two to feel comfortable with letting them have all the facts.

He settled for saying, "I was wit' Magneto undah contract… an arrangement made wit' mon père. Now he's given me an out an' I chose ta' contact de Prof. before I even knew 'bout dis set-up dey were already workin' up." There, that gave them the general gist of things, hopefully helped to clear him somewhat with his amour's brother, and the look he was currently exchanging with Rogue left him assured that she knew there was more to it and that all she had to do was ask.

"Well, it's not like I've got somewhere better to be and I've already lived with both the Brotherhood and here… don't know why I'd suddenly have a problem now. Especially since it just means even more smokin' hot guys than before." Her salacious grin would make most nervous. Remy imperceptibly edged closer to Rogue while winking at the blond in his usual irrepressible way. Kurt looked aggravated.

Seeing his sulky expression, Tabby assured him with a hand on his thigh, "Aw! Don't worry, elf… I still think you're too cute for words!" With that, she pinched his cheek and grinned when he blushed at her outrageous behavior.

"What about you, Kit?" Rogue wondered. She knew a lot could come into play here for her roommate. She'd be living in the same house as her ex and the guy she was currently interested in. Kitty may come across as pretty airheaded, but Rogue knew her friend was smart and actually methodical in her rationalizations as long as it had nothing to do with her love life. She could see Kitty mulling things over even more as she pondered how to answer.

Kitty thought about the awkwardness of living with Lance, but knew that they were both older now and were both ready to move on so it would probably be okay. If anything, it would be more weird living with Piotr whom she was in that strange getting-to-know-each-other-better-but-not-really-admitting-anything-yet stage. As long as they were able to keep out of the limelight she thought that would be okay. It was so easy to predict how the others would react, but not so easy to evaluate her own feelings.

Scott would be bent out of shape for weeks and would make little barbed remarks to anyone from the other teams but would eventually come around. Jean would be so busy trying to reason with Scott that she wouldn't have time to be angry for herself. Besides, she trusted the Professor so much that there was no way she'd go against him. Tabby was only interested in the fresh meat it would bring into the house. Jubes probably wouldn't care too much and Bobby would play pranks on them until he found another guy to plot with from the other teams and then he'd be fine.

Storm would remain enigmatic and cordial because that was just the way she handled everything while Mr. Logan would grunt, snarl, and flip his claws out every five minutes until the newbies had proven both their skills and their loyalties. Amara would hate whoever didn't bow down at her feet, which was no different from how she acted with most of the people here already.

Kitty thought about each team member and realized there weren't many who made her too uncomfortable. The only ones that still made her nervous were Sabertooth and Mystique, neither of whom she understood or trusted. "I think I'm okay with it and that it could actually be good in a lot of ways. If we're working together that means instead of being so busy fighting each other, we can actually try to do some good towards protecting mutants in general, right?"

Tabby looked thoughtful and the others slowly began nodding. "Zat's true," Kurt admitted. Remy woke up to the fact that this little girl was sharper than he'd thought. No wonder she and Rogue had formed their close friendship that seemed so unlikely on the surface.

"Well," Rogue slapped her hands down on her legs and started to stand, "it's almost time ta eat and Ah'm hungry. Anyone else goin' inside?" Kurt had bamfed the moment she'd mentioned the food awaiting them. Kitty laughed and she, Rogue, Tabby, and Remy walked together towards the back door.

Remy leaned down to whisper in Rogue's ear when no one would notice, "We will talk later, mon cherie?" He asked rather than stated. She nodded without looking at him since she knew he was trying to be subtle. He leaned even closer, his breath moving her hair with every word. "Meet me by de pool at 'bout ten o'clock, bien (alright)?"

She only nodded, letting a secretive smile slip over her lips for the barest second. They ate mostly with each group sitting together. One table held Rogue, Wanda, Lance, Kitty, and Tabby but they were the only ones to break the trend. It took a little effort for Rogue to make it out alone. A bunch of the girls were gathered in her room with Kitty to talk about everything and they'd accepted Wanda readily enough, although she took the chance to leave when Rogue did since she was feeling overwhelmed. Some of them were pretty nosy.

Wanda could see Rogue trying to figure out how to shake her as they walked the hallway together and said with her usual lack of subtlety, "Don't worry. I'm not going to get in your way. You go on out and hang with Gambit. I just couldn't listen to one more giggle. I'm going to see what Pietro's doing."

"Thanks, Wanda," was all Rogue said, her excitement slipping through more than she probably realized. She dashed off while Wanda went towards the hall where most of the boys roomed. Rogue, meanwhile, was focused on slowing her pace and her heartbeat as she walked with measured casualness to where she could see Remy sitting on the edge of the pool, his feet dangling in the water.

His face lit up when he saw her and she couldn't prevent dropping the pretense. "I'm glad ya' came, Rogue. Dere's t'ings I want ya ta know dat I didn' want ta say in front o' everyone else."

"Ya' don't have to, ya' know Remy. It's not like Ah have any right ta'…" she trailed off when he held up one hand.

"I want ya' t'know dese t'ings, chere." When she stayed quiet and just looked trustingly up at him, he took a deep breath and began. "I was promised in marriage t' my old friend Belle. We were supposed t' bind th' alliance 'tween th' two warring guilds. De day y'all called 'bout Apocolypse was my wedding day."

"Did ya' love her?"

'Yeah, I love Belle still… but not de way a man loves his wife. I didn't have much choice dough an' so dere we were." He broke off to pick up her hand and play with her fingers. "Ya' need to know, mon Rogue, dat I wanted not'ing more dan I wanted t'be wit' ya'. Seeing reports o' what happened 'bout scared me t' death wit' worry over ya'." He lifted her hand to kiss her glove-clad palm. "I was so glad ya' were okay."

Was that a sighing sound? No, Rogue decided, she must have been mistaken. Remy's eyes had a suspicious twinkle, but she knew that was far from uncommon with him and let it go. Since he was letting his empathy have free reign right now, he'd been picking up on the emotions of the large group sequestered just out of sight for a little while now. He'd had to fight his instincts to smirk at the majority of the females and to chuckle at the males. If he allowed Rogue to get too distracted, though, he knew it would be hard to find another time to do this and he wanted to do it as soon as possible. Nothing hidden between them, he'd finally know whether she'd give them a chance.

He shook it off and continued his story. "We never finished de ceremony 'cause Belladonna's brother interrupted an' started fightin' me. In self-defense I wound up killin' 'im. I swear, chère, dere was nothin' I could do."

She nodded at him. "Ah know, Rems. Ah do," she assured him when he still looked uncertain. Seeing her sincerity he went on to tell her about being banished to keep the peace and how that and his loss of control led to his brief and horrific affiliation with Sinister and then Magneto. She'd gotten bits of this through different brief moments of absorption when he'd refused to be careful around her. Rogue could see though that he needed to do this. He needed to come clean with her for some reason she didn't understand and she was willing to sit here and listen.

Both she and Remy were speaking in hushed voices to maintain their privacy and ignoring the telltale rustling coming from the bushes near the side of the pool house behind them. Apparently she'd been right about that sound earlier. They lowered their voices so much now that they were practically whispering.

He talked about some of the awful things he'd seen and done and then his ongoing talks with and even negotiations with Xavier. Finally he'd gotten out all he wanted to say about the events that had led him here. "So," she was still wrapping her mind around some of what he'd revealed and wondering why he'd needed to tell her, "Ah get what ya're sayin' and Ah know that ya're not tha only one who's done things they aren't exactly proud of, me included. What I don't get is why ya're tellin' me all o' this. Ah'm certainly not gonna question who Professor X lets in here."

"I'm tellin' ya', mon amour, b'cause ya're part o' de reason I'm here… a big part. De prof. knows dat an' I needed ya' t'know, too." Remy focused intently on her emotional reactions to his revelation. He leaned forward slowly after reading all he could off her and gave her a feather-light kiss, pulling away in time to keep from passing out.

Rogue looked at him with red on black eyes and chided, "Ya' crazy Cajun."

"Aw!" Kitty gushed.

"Woohoo, baby… not bad!" Tabby was shameless in her comment. The rest of the kids shushed her from their place around the corner of the pool house.

"Shut up!" That would be Jubilee.

"Both of y'all are idiots. They've got to know we're here by now thanks to you," and the drawl gave away Sam's identity pretty quickly. Remy and Rogue started to laugh as the disagreement continued.

"Hey, watch it!" they heard from Ray before they heard the sounds of a sizable scuffle and then Jamie's little voice piping up, "OW!"

Apparently whoever got shoved bumped into Jamie and his clones soon filled the area forcing others into the open.

xxxXXXXXxxx

The massive food fight that took place within three days of the announcement that the teams were melding took all the team members six hours to clean up. The destruction Victor caused to the DR a day and a half after that cost several thousand dollars to repair. The numerous romances, break-ups, and new affairs were still being played out now, two months later. Even with all that had passed, including several intriguing changes, things had settled into something of a routine. The mornings began with everyone converging for breakfast at roughly the same time. It was chaotic, but it was still somewhat under control. Victor and Mystique chose to not descend until those still in high school were gone. Rogue, who as a result of her decision to enroll in some extra classes during summer would be graduating at Christmas-time, drove several of the high school students each day. Remy always walked out to see her off and their long hugs somehow came across as hotter than any of Tabby's kisses or those exchanged by Scott and Jean, both of which had been shamelessly watched by the other residents for a long time now.

Jean and Scott were both taking classes at a nearby campus of the university. Today was a day when they both had morning classes, so they were also leaving. Once they were gone only John, Remy, Piotr, Erik, Logan, and Storm remained in the kitchen. Wanda was already in another room with her laptop working on her assignments. Due to how far behind she was academically, she'd chosen to be homeschooled allowing her to move ahead as quickly as her sharp intelligence allowed and preventing the still sometimes volatile teen from dealing with cruel taunts from others. After school she met up with everyone in town for shakes. Remy took her in so that he had an excuse to watch over 'his amour'. "Don' wan' any o' dose garçons (little boys) from town tryin' any moves on mon bel (my beautiful) Rogue."

After a short time hanging out in town, they all headed back. The younger students to work on their homework, and those on active mission status to train. Later the roles would be reversed and the younger students would be put through their paces with Remy and Scott as it had been decided they may have more patience and more realistic expectations than Logan tended to display. Piotr often helped Wanda with her work as he'd shown a tolerance for her frustrated reactions that nobody else seemed to share. Remy would find Rogue when he was done and the pair would be found in one place or another either inside or out on the grounds. They were frequently joined by Kurt, Piotr, Jubilee, Kitty, or Tabitha.

Today, though, they'd all been contacted not long before the final bell sounded at school with the professor's mental request that they return directly as there was need for a meeting. Scott and Jean were already there and Remy had resisted the urge to meet Rogue after school regardless, instead meeting her in the garage as she parked. He wrapped his arms around her waist firmly and placed a lingering kiss atop her head. Remy and the others who were home all day were aware of what was coming and he honestly wasn't certain how the news would be received by his chérie. A little confused but more than willing to enjoy these moments with her boyfriend, Rogue figured she would know all soon enough.

Another intrusive mental nudge from Professor Xavier and they linked fingers as they walked inside. They were the last ones to join the gathering in the rec room. When Erik would have started speaking, Kitty interrupted with the same question Rogue was pondering. "What about the others? Shouldn't we, like, wait for them?" They all glanced around searching for those missing from their numbers.

Rogue had already noted the absence of several people, including Wanda and her brother; Lance, Fred, and Todd; John, and even Mystique. It wasn't like the professor to exclude people this way and Rogue sensed she may know the purpose of this mansion gathering. "They're gone, aren't they?" she asked with her melodic accent tinting the words.

Erik and Charles exchanged a look while Storm stood calmly exuding her motherly-comfort vibe. Logan was the one who answered while Remy tugged her close and tucked her against his comforting side. "Yeah, Stripes; they left earlier today. Different people left for different reasons, but they each made their choice freely and after a lot of thought."

"For the moment, we have all agreed that while we may not be pursuing our goals in the same ways, we are not one another's enemies either. We hope to avoid being on opposing sides, but the truth is we have no idea how long this truce will last. Each team member will have to take different encounters one at a time and evaluate things based purely on what's happening then. It may at times seem difficult, but we know you are all up to the task." That was all the professor said about it.

It was later that night while Remy and Rogue sat together in one of the oversized chairs while the others were scattered around them on sofas, chairs, and the floor that Remy and Piotr gave them more insight.

"Ah get why Victor wanted ta go. It was really hard for him here with all the noise an' smells an' all that. He's not really tha kind o' guy ta live in a school."

"What makes you all Freud-insightful all of a sudden?" Jubilee wondered with a snap of her gum. She held the pack out to Tabitha, who was eying the pink wad with envy. After getting her own piece, she handing the pack back while giving her attention to the conversation.

Rogue tapped her index finger against her temple, "Ah have him up here, remember?"

"But what about Lance and the other Brotherhood boys?" Kitty wanted to know.

This time it was Remy who clued them in, "Dey an' Johnny-boy couldn' take all de rules. Dere are too many restrictions here for dem an' it was jus' too much."

Kitty nodded along with several others who could easily see that being a problem for the rather rebellious guys in question. When Wanda's and Pietro's names came up, Piotr was the one who spoke to the group for the first time that evening. He held out to Rogue and also to Jean white envelopes with Wanda's familiar handwriting on the outside. "Wanda left these for you. I think what you find there will answer your questions and you'll be able to help everyone else understand after you've read them." Rogue noted that underneath her name was the word 'personal' in small print. She tucked it into her pocket to look at later while Jean opened hers and scanned it right away.

"She basically says that she's thankful for all her friends here, but that there are other things she needs to focus on right now that are more important than academics or social skills right now. It's nothing personal, she insists… just the right thing for her."

Piotr now spoke again. "Pietro only said that things were a bit slow for him at the institute." Several people chuckled at that typically Pietro statement and knew it for the truth.

"So," Kurt put in with a drooping tail and a heartfelt sigh, "zat leaves Mystique's reasons." Finally cluing into why he seemed so despondent, Kitty reached out a hand to him, but let it drop when he only stared at the ground. Rogue had moved closer to him before now and she placed one hand on his shoulder.

"Ah wish Ah had answers for ya', mein Bruder (my brother)," she said in German to infuse her sentiment with extra sympathy. He tried to smile at her, but it was far too shaky to be believable. He patted her hand before bamfing away to be alone. In his room waited a different letter. It would be the only letter, barring the note she sent him when informing him of their true relationship, he'd ever receive from his biological mother. He read it through over and over throughout the night. The following day he would show it to Rogue, but for now it was just for him.

It explained her issues with Charles' and Erik's view of human/mutant relations, revealing what she saw as inherent flaws. In it she also told him how much she cherished the brief time they'd had together and how precious it was to her… that she would never forget it. Any time he wanted to speak to her or needed her, she assured him Xavier would know how to reach her. She'd even signed it, 'With love'. No one else would ever see him cry, but Rogue noted the blotted splash marks marring some of the words as she read it through the next morning.

There was a slight pall over the group for several weeks, especially as it seemed the others had not just left the mansion, but had left Bayville entirely. The students were young, though, and bounced back fairly quickly. Soon things were as noisy and frantic as they'd ever been. Erik was actually the person who took the longest to move beyond his disappointment. His children had gone, along with one of his Acolytes and his long-time associate, sometimes friend, and occasional something more… It was a difficult pill to swallow.

So this was the X-Men now. Some would choose to move on to other pursuits after they'd graduated, others would remain as Logan and Storm had done, becoming an integral and important part of the Institute. Even those who remained would take occasional breaks, but certain members always returned. And a few things stayed the same. Charles was the heart of the Institute and would remain so, even after he'd passed on.

Piotr and Kitty would form an incredibly close relationship that would end only after his death, which she mourned deeply. She would go on to work with Pete Wisdom in Europe. Jubilee stayed with the X-Men in a junior role and then as a full-fledged member. Bobby would become romantically involved with a mutant name Lorna and the two would leave together, although it wouldn't last.

Storm was one of the few constants in the lives of the X-Men offering her wisdom and insight as freely as her affection to all who passed through the Institute's doors. Logan may take road trips, disappearing for who-knew-how long at a time but he always came back at just the right moment and his loyalty never failed. Rogue and Remy would fight, face unbelievable challenges and trials, and have to fight for their love against all odds and countless foes… but they never stopped loving one another.